PITTSBURGH: Generic drug maker Mylan Laboratories, the country's second largest, has tapped Patrick Fitzgerald as VP of PR, its top communications post.

Fitzgerald joins Mylan from General Nutrition Centers, where he was director of PR.

He will report to CFO Edward Borkowski, and oversee media relations as well as all external communications with Mylan's stakeholders.

Fitzgerald noted that he is currently reviewing Mylan's agency needs. The drug company does not have an AOR, but Fitzgerald indicated that it might consider forming such a relationship in the future.

He added that the company is still determining the size of its internal PR team as well.

An ongoing challenge for generic drug makers like Mylan will be to respond to changing marketing rules, Fitzgerald noted.

Mylan has been outspoken (even filing a suit it later dropped) against the Food and Drug Administration, which last year ruled that drug makers could sell "authorized generic" versions of its brand name products.

The ruling angered generic drug companies, which were previously granted 180 days of marketing exclusivity if they could produce the first generic version of a drug after its patent expired.